Smoke and steam lifter



June 17, 1924.

1,498,083 w. J. FREE ET AL SMOKE AND STEAM LIFTER Filed Feb. 9, 1922 lnvsn'rons W. J. Frc 6 M. R. Harkn ss l Art-vs Patented June 17, 1924.

UNITED; STATES OFFICE.

WILLIAM JOHN FREE AND MELVILLE RAY HARKNESS, or DAUIPHIN, MANITOBA,

CANADA.

SMOKE AND STEAM LIFTER.v

Application filed February 9, 1922. Serial No. 535,292;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM JOHN F Run and MELVILLE RAY HARxNnss, both of the town of Dauphin, in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Smoke and Steam Lifters, of; which the following is the specification.-

The invention relates to improvements in smok and steam lifters and particularly as utilized on the smoke stacks of locomotives or similar moving engines and anobject of the invention is to provide a device associated with the stack which will prevent the steam and smoke from blowing down in front of the cab of the locomotive and making it impossible at times for the engineer or fireman to see ahead.

A further object is. to construct the device in a simple, durable and inexpensive manner and so thatit can be readily attached to existing stacks and such that it will effectively do the work for which it is designed.

A further object is to provide a device which can be applied onlong or short stacks as occasion demands.

With the above more important objects in view the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter more particularly described and later pointed out in the appended claim, reference'being had to the accompanying drawing in which i Fig. 1 is a side view of the device asit appears applied on the stack.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view centrally through the device with the stack shown in side elevation.

Fig. 4 is a plan view.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the appliance and as utilized on a short stack.

In the drawing like characters of referenc indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

We might mention that at present an attempt is made to prevent the back blowing of the steam and smoke by utilizing the blower or opening the throttle to give the engine steam enough to raise the smoke. Either of these ways waste fuel and raises the steam pressure when not necessary. It also has the effect of increasing the speed of the train and this is counteracted by the application of, the brakes and such means unnecessary wear of the brake rigging and additional. abuse of the air compressors.

The smoke stack 1 is carried at the forward end of the locomotive boiler 2 in the customary way and at the present time these stacks may Vary somewhat in length.

The device, however, can be applied to either type of stack by changing it slightly.

In Figures 1 to 4 the long stack is shown.

The smoke and steam lifter comprises a hood 3 which is formed from metal and is attached to the stack by means of a. fastening band 41- permanently riveted to the hood and secured around the stack by a bolt 5.

The hood comprises side and rear walls ari ranged, as shown, to partly encircle the stack and to form therewith an intervening air passage open at the front and at the upper end of the stack. As shown to advantage in Fig. 3, the rear wall of the hood is set at an acute angle to the stack and is provided intermediate of its length with an opening through which the stack extends, the lower end of said wall projecting forwardly from the lower portion of the stack and the upper edge of said wall projecting rearwardly from the stack and terminating substantially flush with th upper end of the latter. The side walls of the hood project forwardly from the lateral margin of the rear wall in spaced relation with the sides of the stack and have their forward edges extended a short distance beyond the front of the stack. Preferably, the rear wall is made of increasing width toward its lower end so that the side walls diverge from one another as they approach the front of the stack and thus aiford a relatively wide entrance for the passage intervenin between the stack and the hood.

The general arrangement is such that as the locomotive advances the air or wind will be caught and gathered by the device and deflected upwardly by the appliance to the rear of the stack.

At the upper front corner of the device we have located a double deflector 6 presenting two diverging wings 7 and 8, the wing 8 having the rear edge thereof curving rearwardly and upwardly to meet a horizontal extension 9 of the wing 7. The deflector is cut away to fit the front half of the upper portion of the stack.

' ditions. 7

The action of th applied appliance is such. that the wind or air is gathered and passed around the stack and deflected upwardly at a sharp angle at the rear part of the stack and at a. high velocity which action lifts the smoke and steam so that it goes over the top of the cab and gives the engineer or fireman a clear view ahead at all times. The wing 7 tends to deflect a small proportion of the wind upwardly.

We have found with this appliance that it operates very satisfactorily under all con For instance when the locomotive is standing still and the wind is blowing the smoke and steam is carried up by the air draft. On still days when the engine is moving there is a draft by virtue of the movement of the engine and this is im creased should the wind be blowing.

On still days where the engine is idle there is obviously no trouble experienced withthe smoke and steam going back to interfere with the vision of the engineer or fireman. i

In Figure 5 where a short stack is shown the base of the appliance is outflanged as indicated at 10 and fastened by the bolts which hold the smoke stack. In this case the band 4 is dispensed with. r

' What we claim as our invention is:

The combination with a locomotive smoke stack of a hood partly encircling the stack and forming therewith an intervening air passage having an entrance opening at the front of the stack and an outlet opening at thetop of the stack and a deflecting member supported in the entrance opening adjacent tothe top of the stack and 'presenting oppositely inclined deflecting surfaces disposed to effect upward anddownward deflection ofthe impinging air. Signed at Dauphin, this 26th cember, 1921.

VVILLIAld JOHN FREE. MELVILLE RAY HARKNESS. In the presence of-- J. EpRAMSDEN,

O. STRUTHnRs.

day of De- 

